A 3-D version of fantasy story "Da Nao Tian Gong", or "Havoc in Heaven" in English, a famous chapter of the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", will commence filming soon.

Casting decisions have been made, and major roles have been announced, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen will play the Monkey King (Sun Wukong), and Aaron Kwok will star as Bull Demon King (Niu Mo Wang), and is being hailed as the most handsome bull king in history. Other actors on board include Chow Yun-Fat (stars as the Jade Emperor of Heaven), and Peter Ho (stars as God Erlang).

The film's director is Pou-Soi Cheang, who is known for his horror epics, such as "The Death Curse" and "Gwai Muk".

"Havoc" is based on selected chapters of Wu Cheng'en's novel "Journey to the West" ("Xi You Ji"), known as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. "Havoc" tells a story of how the Monkey King rebels against the Jade Emperor of Heaven.

Investment toward the film is estimated at 400 million yuan, over 57 million US dollars.

A US$57-million fantasy movie, "The Monkey King" ("Da Nao Tian Gong") has announced that Cecilia Cheung, Gigi Leung and Kelly Chen will join its star-laden cast.

The film, directed by Pou-Soi Cheang, tells a fairy tale story based on a classic chapter from the ancient Chinese novel, "Journey to the West" ("Xi You Ji").

After filming started on October 8, the producer Filmko Pictures announced the first group of cast members. Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and Aaron Kwok take the roles of Monkey King (Sun Wukong) and Bull Demon King (Niu Mo Wang). Veteran actor Chow Yun-Fat stars as the Jade Emperor of Heaven (Yu Di).

Other stars joining the film include Taiwan actors Peter Ho and Joe Chen, and mainland actor Liu Ye.

"The Monkey King" is based on the earliest chapters of "Journey to the West". It portrays hundreds of gods and goddesses living in heaven, telling readers a basic structure of the upper world.

The film will be Cecilia Cheung's fourth big-screen work since she launched her comeback career.

Filmko's 3D action film "The Monkey King" <大鬧天宮> (previously translated as "Havoc in Heaven") held a press conference yesterday and some of its starry leads like Chow Yun-fat, Donnie Yen, Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen, Gigi Leung, Peter Ho, and Joe Chen all attended.

A-list actor Chow joked at the interview that he is the CEO of heaven because he plays the Jade Emperor in the film: "I rule the heaven. I'm a very important CEO." He does not really mind about money but hopes for a shorter time in applying make-up.

Playing the Monkey King in the film, Yen expressed he only gets 2-3 hours of sleep everyday, but he would try hard to provide the best to everyone. The "Ip Man" star will have romantic scenes with newcomer Xia Zi Tong (plays the Nine-tailed Fox) in the film.

Praised as the most handsome Buffalo Demon King, Kwok hopes to change people's view on this character who appears frightening and ugly usually. But it takes 3 hours to get his make-up done and the actor's skin is complaining already.

Playing his wife Princess Iron Fan in the film, Joe Chen is fortunate that she does not need to film action scenes like other people because her character is pregnant. The Taiwanese idol drama queen admires Kwok a lot and she praises him the most handsome Buffalo Demon King in the history.

Returning to the film industry after giving birth, Kelly Chen discloses she likes her role as Guan Yin in the film. Plus the filming time is not too long and she does not have to be separate away from her son for a long period.

Several costume photos of the cast were released earlier but yesterday director of the film disclosed they are not the final version. The film plans to be released in 2012.